NaCl-tolerance test

An increase in the retention of sodium occurs in the early stages of severe liver disease, particularly in liver cirrhosis, without any disruption of the water balance. This early tendency towards sodium retention can be detected using the NaCl-tolerance test. The retention of sodium reduces the sodium excretion rate in the urine to < 10 mval/day (normal rate 120 to 220 mval/day). Diuresis is not primarily restricted patients with ascites and oedema react to an excessive intake of water with an adequate excretion of diluted urine, albeit in the virtual absence of sodium excretion. The limited sodium excretion derives from increased, mainly proximal tubular reabsorption of sodium and not from diminished glomerular filtration. Overall maintenance of the liver architecture is usually accompanied by undisturbed sodium excretion, despite existing portal hypertension (such as in primary biliary cirrhosis). Marked sodium retention is, however, usually found in alcoholic-toxic cirrhosis. For this reason, such patients are not only the ones most frequently affected by ascites and oedema, but as a rule they display the most serious forms. This is probably also due to additional biochemical and hormonal factors which are present to a greater degree in patients with alcohol-related liver disease. 

Polydrill is a sulfonated polymer for filtration control in water-based drilling fluids [1775]. Tests demonstrated the product s thermal stability up to 200° C and its outstanding electrolyte tolerance. Polydrill can be used in NaCl-saturated drilling fluids as well as in muds containing 75,000 ppm of calcium or 100,000 ppm of magnesium. A combination of starch with Poly drill was used successfully in drilling several wells. The deepest hole was drilled with 11 to 22 kg/m of pregelatinized starch and 2.5 to 5.5 kg/m of Polydrill to a depth of 4800 m. Field experience with the calcium-tolerant starch/Polydrill system useful up to 145° C has been discussed in detail [1774]. 

A highly salt-tolerant bacterial strain Gracilibacillus sp. GTY was tested for the ability to decolorize the azo dye Acid Red B. It was observed that the dye was decolorized by growing and resting cells, as well as by extracted azo reductase, in optimum conditions and at a 10-15% NaCl concentration at very high and very low salt concentration, it was not possible to reach a good performance in decolori-zation [80],... 

Strains for nse in dairy applications are examined for their ability to acidify milk at varions temperatnres in microtiter plates. The change in the pH of the milk is followed by the inclnsion of pH indicators (bromocresol pnrple and bromocresol green) in the milk and scanning on a flatbed scanner typically at 6-min intervals. The data are exported to a snitable spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA) for ease of calculation. Acidification curves are obtained, and descriptors like total pH drop, maximum acidification rate, and specific time intervals snch as time to acidify from pH 6.0 to pH 5.5 are easily derived in the spreadsheet. The formation of volatile organic compounds in the acidified milk is measured by head space gas chromatography, allowing quantitative assessment of the production of relevant metabolites such as acetaldehyde, acetoin, and 3-methyl-butanal. Tolerance to NaCl is also tested in milk by following the acidification in the presence and absence of 4% (w/v) NaCl. 

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